Additional help requested to update District Court files

An audit of files by the Wyoming Supreme Court has showed over 1,000 incomplete files in the Big Horn County Clerk of District Court office that must be updated before a change in programs can be complete.

Clerk of Court Dori Noyes came to the commissioners Tuesday, Dec. 18, to discuss the new program and the need to update files. She said the Wyoming Supreme Court will be changing the computer programs in the clerk of district court offices around the state, and checked files in Big Horn County to make sure they would properly transfer with the new system. She said they found 1,100 incomplete files.

Deputy Clerk Maxine Ruppert, who has been helping train employees in the district court office, said she will continue to help Noyes with training and help with getting the files updated. She said they didn’t know the new system was coming, nor that the files were not complete.

Noyes added that the issue would have to be addressed, “No matter who had been appointed.”

According to an email letter from Mary Thomas, enterprise report analyst for the Wyoming Supreme Court, files that must be updated are any civil cases that are not pending but have a final disposition. Thomas said cases must have some type of disposition, including adoptions, probates, mental health and others.

Another issue is some civil cases with a disposition do not have a type or date entered. Several garnishment cases are also incomplete. Thomas said the issue date, order date and garnishment type must be included in the files.

The information must be completed in order for all the files to transfer correctly to the new system.

“It’s going to be a big process,” Ruppert said, adding that they have to go through all the files to find the information and correctly input it into the files. She said tracking the garnishment can take up to 45 minutes for one case.